


Something Strange in the Neighborhood

by FearlessinBlue



Category: Ghostbusters (1984-1989; 2020), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28664274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearlessinBlue/pseuds/FearlessinBlue
Summary: Dr. Alexandra Moreno had no idea what she was in for when she moved into the building next door to the Ghostbusters. A chance meeting with the Ghostbusters seals her fate and she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the old firehouse and the men who live there. One Ghostbuster, in particular, Dr. Ray Stantz captures her attention and her heart but can the young doctor win his in return? Ray/OC
Relationships: Dana Barrett/Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	Something Strange in the Neighborhood

**Author's Note:**

> This work takes place during the first Ghostbusters movie from my OC's point of view.

Dr. Alexandra Moreno let out a huff of frustration as she cut open one of the first boxes in her new apartment, her home phone cradled in the space between her ear and her shoulder. The curling cord of the phone was stretched almost to its limit but she paid it no mind, almost hoping that it would disconnect and cut off the nagging tirade that was ringing out from the other end of the phone. Almost as soon as she had received her lunch of Chinese food from the twitchy, pimple-faced delivery boy and had sat down at her tiny kitchen table to eat the harsh ring of her new phone had sent her jumping up from her seat. Alexandra had stared at the screaming phone for a couple of seconds, wondering who could possibly be calling her when she had only moved in yesterday. The realization had hit her the moment she made the mistake of answering and her mother's accusing voice had nearly deafened her. Now she sat on the floor of the kitchen with one of her boxes, her dinner long abandoned as her mostly one-sided conversation with her mother had sent her appetite running for the hills.

“-and why couldn’t ya have chosen someplace closer to home huh?” Her mother was still harping on the same point she had been since Alexandra had answered the phone: her only daughter’s bold decision to live somewhere other than Little Italy. According to her mother, she was the first Moreno to leave Little Italy since her ancestors had come to America. Alexandra knew that she was exaggerating because she knew for a fact that she had a couple of cousins living in Jersey, but that wouldn’t matter to her already worked-up mother.

“Ma... we talked about this,” Alexandra sighed heavily and ran a hand through her dark auburn curls, “I needed to live somewhere closer to work.” _And away from the family_ she silently added to herself. She didn’t dare tell her mother that she had chosen this specific apartment, not only for its proximity to New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan but for the distance it put between her and her family.

“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t have moved into that lovely place just down the street from us.” Her mother whined and Alexandra seriously considered bashing her head against her cabinets. Talking to her mother was like talking at a brick wall.

“Ma-“ was all she could sigh out before her mother once again began her tirade about how her older brothers had settled down with nice girls, all Italian and all within several blocks of her parents. Alexandra let her mother talk and distractedly took dishes out of her last kitchen box, setting them in a semicircle on the floor around her to be put away when she was finally released from her ‘conversation’.

Suddenly her mother's tirade was interrupted by the deeper tones of her father's voice cut in. Alexandra heard pieces of their conversation which consisted mostly of her father pleading in Italian with her mother to 'leave the girl alone' and to let him talk to her. The line crackled as the phone was handed over amid a rapid stream of frustrated Italian from her mother about 'unruly children' and how Alexandra was 'driving her to an early grave'.

"Passerotta!" her father cooed into the phone and Alexandra couldn't help but let out a little laugh at the diminutive term that her father had insisted on calling her since she was a small child.

"Babbo." She replied with palpable relief and her father's warm chuckle washed over her, soothing the irritation of her mother's barbs. "How are you?"

"Fine, fine. How are you? How's the new place?" Relaxed now, Alexandra heaved herself up off the floor and roamed around the small but cozy place, appraising the organized mess of boxes and furniture.

"It's great! I'm almost unpacked." She winced when she realized that almost unpacked meant that whatever she didn't unpack by the end of the weekend would probably remain in its boxes for the foreseeable future. She moved over to the window to gaze out at the street. The neighborhood wasn't the best but it was cheap and close to work and more importantly, not her parent's house. She glanced over at the old fire station next door and was surprised to see that there was a man up on a ladder installing some kind of sign while another man looked on from below. She sat in the open window, perched on the window sill so she could still see her new neighbors and talk on the phone.

"Got some new neighbors." She commented off-hand and her father hummed in acknowledgment of her statement.

"That's nice. Are we gonna see you for Sunday dinner tomorrow night? Your Ma would really like it if you came." He made the invitation sound like a request rather than how her mother would demand her attendance.

"Yeah, Babbo... I'll come." She caved easily for her dad and she could practically hear his large, enigmatic smile through the phone.

"Good! Good!" He crowed happily and he called to her mother in Italian, receiving silence as a response.

"Babbo, when is she gonna let me live my life? I'm 26. I'm an adult now." She said quietly into the phone, staring blankly at the activity on the street. Her father went quiet as well as when he replied his answer was subdued and serious.

"Listen, Aleka. You're always gonna be her baby. And your mother is just worried about you out there all by yourself, we all are. Just promise me that you'll be safe. Okay?"

"Yes of course. I'll see you tomorrow night okay? Love you."

"Love you too Passerotta." he hung up with a click and Alexandra dropped her phone into her lap carelessly, chewing on her lip as she considered her father's words. She was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't realize what was happening down on the street until an eerie siren broke through the usual hubbub. Alexandra jerked in surprise and almost fell off her window sill onto the fire escape but caught herself. The phone fell onto the tile floor with a clatter as the taught cord pulled it back to the wall mount.

She watched curiously as an old black ambulance that looked like it was barely safe to drive bounced its way down the street, blaring the odd siren. It stopped in front of the old firehouse and the man who was at the base of the ladder ran over to greet the driver. Alexandra watched with mounting curiosity as the driver stepped out. He had a dark head of hair that stood up at crazy angles almost as if he had just jumped out of bed. He was a little on the chubby side and when he turned around to gesture excitedly at the car, Alexandra felt her heart jump into her throat. His face was round and boyish and his mouth was stretched into an expressive smile that reminded her of a child that had just gotten a new toy. It was endlessly charming and Alexandra found her gaze glued to him as he chatted with the other man. Now that the siren was off she could hear their conversation as the cute man rattled off a laundry list of problems with the car. She winced at the length of the list.

As the daughter of the latest in a long line of mechanics she had grown up around cars and had been fixing them since she was old enough to hold a wrench and help out after school. It had driven her mother crazy but her father had never been able to say no to her so she got her way and learned how to fix cars in her dad's shop. The classic car junkie in her itched to get her fingers on the obviously vintage vehicle and the part of her that had noticed the driver itched to get her hands on him.

The car and the men disappeared inside the firehouse and the street went back to its normal quiet New York City noises. Alexandra shook off the sudden urges that the old ambulance and its driver had ignited in her. She quickly climbed out of the window and back into her apartment, mentally berating herself for lusting after her neighbor when she had unpacking to do and cold Chinese food to reheat. She slammed the window closed and resolved to avoid that firehouse at all costs. She didn't need any more complications in her life, no matter how fascinating, or how cute.


End file.
